Comment on the view that the transatlantic slave trade was a mixed blessing for Africa

The history of Africa is closely linked to slavery. The continent has experienced four (4) major

forms of slavery and slave related trade, over the five centuries running from 1400 to 1900.

These were the trans-Saharan, Red Sea and Indian-Ocean and the transatlantic slave trade. In the

trans-Saharan, Red Sea and Indian-Ocean slave trades, slaves were taken to North Africa and the

Middle East by land south of the Sahara, the innermost part of the Red Sea and the interior part

of the East African coast. The main source of these slaves were the enslavement of war captives,

which accompanied conquest of foreign territories in the course of imperialist policies. Other

sources were kidnappings, illegal sale of individuals, crime punishments, natural reproduction,

debt slavery, child vulnerability and sale, and human trafficking, among others, appear to be less

prevalent and more reliant on certain socioeconomic situations and behavioral patterns. The

transatlantic slave trade is however, the largest episode of slavery (covering over 12 million

slaves), where captives from West Africa, Central West Africa and East Africa were sent in the

New World and to Europe (Lovejoy, 2000).

During this time, the slave trade had devastating effects on the African continent. The horrors of

the transatlantic slave trade, coupled with the period it lasted raised major concerns among

abolitionists subsequently leading to an end of the transatlantic slave trade by 1888. Warlords

and tribes who benefited financially from the slave trade created an environment of lawlessness

and bloodshed. Throughout much of western Africa, depopulation and a persistent dread of

enslavement rendered economic and agricultural progress nearly impossible. Women in

reproductive years and young men who would ordinarily be beginning families made up a high

majority of those kidnapped. People who were aged, handicapped, or otherwise dependent—
groups who were least able to contribute to their countries' economic health—were frequently

left behind by European slaver, creating a dependent population.

Given the enormity of the slave trades, it is reasonable to wonder what impact, if any, they had

on African societies. According to Davidson (1961) and Rodney (1972), the transatlantic slave

trade had a substantial negative influence on Africa's political, social, and economic

development. Inikori (1992, p.108), also argues that the long-term consequences of Africa's slave

trades were to “alter the direction of the African economic process away from development and

toward underdevelopment and dependence.” These studies have often demonstrated how the

external demand for slaves caused political instability, weakened states, promoted political and

social fragmentation, and resulted in a deterioration of domestic legal institutions. However, the

view that the transatlantic slave trade was a mixed blessing for Africa, is one that suggests that

there is a positive side to this interaction. In my opinion, this view is false since the transatlantic

slave trade had more negatives than positives to Africa, if any at all.

First, the massive loss of population reduced the continents human capital. This implied a

reduction in political and economic power. With many states losing manpower, their political

strength was heavily threatened. The trade focused on slaves who are strong physically. For any

geography, losing an estimated 12 million strong manpower, has implications on their

productivity. As the foreign demand for enslaved Africans increased, Africans responded by

capturing and exporting more people.

Also, the use of local chieftains as suppliers for slaves led to fractionalization and division

among the tribes. This caused weak and fragmented political structures. Whatley and Gillezeau

(2011), also studied the impact of the slave trade on ethnic stratification and established the

existence of a positive relationship between current ethnic fragmentation and slave exports from
West Africa. Nunn and Wantchekon (2011) also investigated the link between the slave trades

and trust. They explained that the episode led to individuals with ancestors that were heavily

affected by slavery having a lower level of trust in their local government. The worsening of

peoples’ trust in their government together with the lack of democracy and liberalism has

consequently made political reform increasingly difficult in Africa, prolonging the existence of

weaker states which arose as a result of the slave trade.

Slave raiding, a significant aspect of the transatlantic slave trade also had a negative impact on

both production and social life. As people tried to reduce the risk of being discovered, ethnic

borders and the capacity to differentiate insider from foreigners developed in areas where slave

raiding is common. As slave raiding became more profitable, elites chose to raid for slaves rather

than create powerful nations, compounding the destabilizing impacts of slave trade.

Furthermore, when the slave trade ceased, the structure of African exports changed dramatically,

and the necessary institutions to support this shift were not in place. Since product exports began

at such a low level and at a time when slave exports were becoming less significant, Africa's

position in global trade suffered a decline, which it has yet to recover from.

A final regrettable effect of the slave trade was the change it caused in the attitude of Europeans

towards Africans or the Black race. Once the Europeans or White men began to buy and use

Africans or Blacks as chattel and beasts of burden they naturally began to developed an attitude

of contempt for and superiority over them. Slavery thus served as a breeding stage for prejudice

and racism, which has since had long standing effects on inequality and discrimination.
In summary, the negative effects of the transatlantic slave trade outweigh any positive effects

and thus, reduces the validity of the notion that, the situation holds mixed blessings. The effects

were purely negative, and cannot be considered a blessing in any form. It was a curse.

References
Davidson, B. (1961). Black Mother: The Years of the African Slave Trade. Little Brown and
Company, Boston.
Inikori, J. E. (1992). Africa in world history: the export slave trade from Africa and the
emergence of the Atlantic economic order. General history of Africa, 5, 74-112.
Lovejoy, P. E. (2011). Transformations in slavery: a history of slavery in Africa (Vol. 117).
Cambridge University Press.
Nunn N, & Wantchekon, L. (2011). The slave trade and the origins of mistrust in Africa. Am
Econ Rev. 101: 3221–52.
Rodney, W. (1972). How Europe Undeveloped Africa. London: Bo. Le L’ouverture
Publications.
Whatley, W., & Gillezeau, R. (2011). The impact of the transatlantic slave trade on ethnic
stratification in Africa. American Economic Review, 101(3), 571-76.
How did African marriage or socialization of child strengthen unity in traditional African
society?
For long, the insistence on family values by African societies have been viewed as an essential

aspect of African social life, which is binding on the people living in the society. The concepts

of family, marriage, parenting, are often distinct for African societies. Indeed, African societies

are diverse and there is no one size fits all for all of the continents societies. However, there is

some uniformity across board which can be used in making generalizations. This essay discusses

two aspects of African social life: marriage and socialization, as means of strengthening unity in

the traditional African society.

Marriage is an important step in the life of every human on earth. Different cultures have

different rituals and beliefs about marriage. Love, economic status, religious beliefs, and social

acceptance are just a few reasons individuals marry across differing cultures. Ayisi (1997)

defines marriage as “the process whereby a man and a woman come together to form a union for

the purpose of procreation” (p.7). Marriage, on the other hand, can be defined as a socially,

culturally, or legally acknowledged temporary or permanent union between a man and a woman.

To put it another way, marriage is more than an agreement between a man and a woman to live

together secretly without others knowing about their connection. Marriage is a very public event.

Marriage occupies an important position in the affairs of Africans, especially in the past. Without

marriage, there is no family, and without a family, one could not bear children. The connection

between marriage and family can hardly be separated among the traditional Africans. In

recognition of this, Ayisi (1997, p.15) observes that the family is then the logical outcome of

marriage. A family consists of a man, his wife, and child or children. By this definition, a

childless marriage is not a family. An individual belongs to at least one family in his lifetime.
Since the family is the basic unit of any political and social organizations, the process of erecting

it should and was given serious attention among the traditional African societies. Marriage, for

Africans, though is purposely for procreation, is more than that. Marriage serves other purposes.

According to Mbiti (1969, p.133), for African peoples, marriage is the focus of existence. It is

the point where all the members of a given community meet: the departed, the living and those

yet unborn. That is why marriage is not the union, or the joining of a man and a woman for the

purpose of becoming husband and wife. Marriage is basically a family or even a community

affair. It is for Africans, the beginning of a new and bigger family

William (1987, p. 22) also adds that marriage in African tradition is “the joining of two families

through the union of one man and one woman and their children, always to the exclusion of all

other men as regards the woman, and in monogamous societies, to the exclusion of all other

women as regards the man”. Thus marriage does not simply unite two persons but two families.

Traditional African views of marriage extend this union to even clans and tribes in some cases.

Thus, for African societies, the individual is the mere representative of a union that transcends

love. Thus African ideas of marriage are emphatic on the role of marriage as a union.

As a source of unity, marriage in African societies establishes the legal father of a child of a

woman; establishes the legal mother of a child of a man; gives control to the husband or family

over the sexual services, labour, and/or property of the wife; gives control to the wife or family

over the sexual, labor and/or property of the wife; creates a common properties fund that is for

the benefit of children; and creates relationships. Marriage thus helps for the establishment of an

economically viable home.

Similarly, African socialization of the child was dependent on such systems as family and

society, as key players in the process. Socialization can simply be defined as the process of
learning and practicing the culture of a given society by both the young and the adult members, it

is the way of acquiring the specific prescriptions and proscriptions of standardized practice

of a given society (Ajayi & Owumi, 2013). Berns (2013) explain socialization as the process by

which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and character traits that enable them to

participate as effective members of groups and society. According to Ajayi and Owumi

(2013), essentially socialization can be looked at from two viewpoints: that of the society

and that of the individual. To the society, socialization is the process of fitting new individuals

into an organized way of life and teaching them the society’s cultural traditions.

African socialization of the child incorporates the idea of family as the standing rock upon which

all of society is built. The family to which a person is born is the initial point of contact between

himself/herself and the external world to which he/she must now interact. The basic tools that

he/she needs to deal with society and future life are passed down through the family. The parents

and other siblings are the representatives of the wider society from whom the child learns the

proper behavior patterns, attitudes, values, norms and cultures. Unlike the average western

family which operates a nuclear system, the African child is socialized to view family in high

regard. This strengthens the notion of unity for the child.

The child is also taught to uphold cultures as a binding idea for their development. The process

of socialization also involves significant practices and ceremonies which are closely aligned to

the formation of unity among the children. The extended family also secures children’s full

developmental needs, including their material, intellectual and psychosocial needs and the

communal approach to the care of children is summed up by the idea that each child is

everyone’s child, promoting the safety and well-being of children in traditional communities.
Thus, the institution of marriage and the process of socialization are unique viewpoints for

strengthening the idea of unity for the African society.

References
Abraham, W. (1987). Sources of African Identity in Alwin Diemer (ed), Africa and the Problem
of Its Identity, Frankfurt, Peter Lang.
Ajayi, J. O., & Owumi, B. (2013). Socialization and child rearing practices among Nigerian
ethnic groups. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2(2), 249-249.
Akingbemi, T. (2007). Ikale People & Culture; Lagos, Thirdworld Media Limited.
Ayisi, E., (1997). An Introduction to the Study of African Culture, Nairobi. East African
Educational Publishers.
Berns, R.M (2013). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (9th ed.)
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Mbiti, J. S. (1969). African Religions and Philosophy. London, Heinemann Pub.